1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to software processing, and more particularly, to methods and systems for intelligently and automatically selecting and utilizing networked computer resources to collectively process computing operations.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the use of software in performing daily tasks is increasing rapidly, assessing software reliability through software testing has become an imperative stage in software development cycle. As is well known, software testing is used to find and eliminate defects (i.e., bugs) in software, which if undetected, can cause the software to operate improperly. In general, software testing may be performed by implementing a stand-alone computer or a network of computer resources. When a stand-alone computer system is used to perform the software testing, the stand-alone computer system is programmed to run a test selected by the software user. Comparatively, if a network of computer resources is used, the user is responsible for manually adding and deleting the computer resources to the network, programming the master computer system and the server, initiating the running of a user-selected test, and running the test on the group of dedicated computer systems coupled to the server.
In either scenario, a heavy user interface is required for initiating the software testing on the master computer, scheduling the running of the specific test on the system resources, adding and deleting of the system resources, keeping track of the system resources and their respective hardware and software configuration, and maintaining the system resources. Additionally, in either case, the software testing is performed by dedicated system resources. That is, the system resources are designed to solely be used for software testing.
At least two drawbacks can be associated with the current state of software testing described above. First, the significant role of human interaction causes software testing to be very time consuming and costly. In certain situations, this setback is extrapolated as a result of human error. Second, currently, computer resources are being wasted, as the computer resources are solely dedicated to software testing.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a flexible methodology and system capable of selecting and utilizing dynamic, cross-platform computer resources to process a computer software.